Considerable interest has been focused on reducing the level of hydrocarbon emissions from internal combustion engines. Typically, automotive emissions applications employ an exhaust mounted, catalytic treatment device for reducing regulated exhaust constituents such as Hydrocarbons (HC), Carbon Monoxide (CO), and Oxides of Nitrogen (NO.sub.x) in the engine exhaust prier to its release to the atmosphere. Such catalytic treatment devices, or catalytic converters, rely on the latent heat of the exhaust gas to become catalytically active following a cold engine start. Initiation of catalyst activity occurs at the light-off temperature which is typically in the area of 400 degrees C. for commonly used catalysts. As such, a vehicle may require 75-100 seconds or more before the engine supplies sufficient heat, through the exhaust gas, for the catalyst to light-off. Cold start emissions are typically recognized as a significant contributor to hydrocarbon exhaust emissions from catalyst-equipped engines with seventy to eighty percent of HC emissions emitted during the first one minute of operation.